Guwahati, Dec 10: A statue of Lachit Borphukan, the commander of the Ahom army, may come up and a road named after him in New Delhi.

Senior BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swami has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing his attention to the “lapse of the past governments in honouring one of the heroes of Indian freedom struggle Lachit Borphukan who fought against foreign invaders – the Mughal army in Assam.”

Dr Swami suggested that the Central government should take an initiative to install a statue of Lachit Borphukan in Delhi and name one of the roads after him. In fact, Dr Swamy suggested that Delhi’s Aurangzeb Road should be renamed after Lachit Borphukan.

The senior BJP leader, who was in Assam recently, reminded the Prime Minister about Lachit Borphukan’s contribution “in successfully fighting the invading Mughal army and preventing them from taking over the Northeast, particularly Assam.”

The Prime Minister has acknowledged receipt of the letter.

There is mounting pressure on the Centre to rename several roads in the national capital after unsung nationalist heroes. Recently, the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) wrote to the Prime Minister demanding that Aurangzeb Road be renamed after Guru Tegh Bahadur as a tribute to the Sikh Guru, who sacrificed his life to protest forcible conversions by the oppressive Mughal ruler.

A similar request was received by the Ministry of Urban Development to remove royal titles from the roads named after former princely–state dynasts.

Lachit Borphukan was a commander and Borphukan in the Ahom kingdom known for his leadership in the 1671 Battle of Saraighat that thwarted a drawn–out attempt by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh to take back Kamrup. He died about a year later due to illness.